4.  The applicant was born in 1965 and resides in Bulgaria.
5.  The applicant was a defendant in several criminal proceedings for different offences and was convicted a number of times.
6.  On an unspecified date in 1992 criminal proceedings for murder committed in Bulgaria were opened against the applicant and another person.
7.  On an unspecified date the applicant moved to the Czech Republic. In September 1993 he was charged with, inter alia, robbery and unlawful possession of firearms committed in the Czech Republic and was detained in a prison in Prague. On 7 April 1995 he was released and on 31 May 1995 the criminal proceedings against him for robbery and unlawful possession of firearms in the Czech Republic were discontinued as the Bulgarian authorities undertook to prosecute him for these offences in Bulgaria instead.
8.  In a decision of 7 March 1996, taken in camera, the Prague City Court allowed the applicant’s extradition to Bulgaria, noting that there he would also be prosecuted for the robbery and the unlawful possession of firearms committed in the Czech Republic.
9.  On 8 July 1996 the applicant was extradited from the Czech Republic on account of criminal proceedings opened against him in Bulgaria for a number of offences, including murder.
10.  The Court has not been provided with information about the course of the proceedings for murder between 1992 and 2005.
11.  On an unspecified date in 2005 the applicant’s case was brought to the Plovdiv Regional Court.
12.  By a judgment of 26 May 2006 the Plovdiv Regional Court acquitted the applicant.
13.  The judgment was upheld on 27 June 2007 by the Sofia Court of Appeal. From the materials at the Court’s possession it appears that in so far as the judgment concerned the applicant’s acquittal, it was not appealed against and entered into force.
14.  In March 1999, pursuant to a commitment undertaken before the Czech authorities in 1995 (see paragraph 7 above), the Bulgarian authorities opened criminal proceedings against the applicant for the robbery and unlawful possession of a gun, offences committed in the Czech Republic.
15.  On 25 October 2001 the applicant was charged with the above offences.
16.  On 12 July 2002 the proceedings were stayed as the victims of the robbery could not be found for questioning. On 22 July 2003 they were resumed upon the applicant’s request.
17.  In August 2003 the Bulgarian authorities requested form the Czech and the Spanish authorities to carry out certain investigative actions and to provide information and documents in connection to the above offences.
18.  On 11 September 2003 the proceedings were divided into two separate cases.
19.  The case for unlawful possession of firearms ended on 1 April 2004 by a judgment of the Plovdiv District Court that became final on 19 April 2004. The court found the applicant guilty and sentenced him to one year imprisonment, which was close to the minimum sentence for this offence. In determining the sentence it took into account, among other mitigating circumstances, the fact that the offence had been committed more than ten years ago.
20.  Meanwhile, on 2 October 2003 the charges for robbery against the applicant were dropped. On 18 July 2005 the applicant was informed that he was not subject to charges under these proceedings. However the proceedings continued.
21.  On 7 July 2006 the prosecution authorities discontinued the proceedings against the applicant for lack of sufficient evidence that he had committed the robbery. The proceedings continued against an unknown perpetrator.